New — and large — show of Rick Bartow’s art opens at the Karin Clarke Gallery

(Above: Detail from Rick Bartow’s Self Portrait and Dream, is part of an extensive new show of his work at the Karin Clarke Gallery.)

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

A new show of of work by venerable — and Native American — Oregon artist, the late Rick Bartow, opens July 15 at the Karin Clarke Gallery and runs through Aug. 29. An opening reception will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 17, and the exhibit also will be open during downtown Eugene’s First Friday ArtWalk on Aug 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The breadth of this new show, titled Rick Bartow: Self Portrait and Dream, reflects the cooperation between the Karin Clarke Gallery and the Bartow Trust to select a large range of Bartow’s work, including pastel drawings, monotypes, lithographs and drypoint prints that are being framed specifically for this show.

As with much of Bartow’s oeuvre, these soon-to-be-seen works include the artist’s self-portraits as well as birds, important Native American figures and symbols, and animals. This show is especially important because the contents of the Bartow estate’s collection are being sold, with many pieces being purchased by museums for their collections, potentially affecting their future visibility.

Bartow was a member of the Wiyot tribe of Northwestern California and spent much of his 40-year career chronicling the life and arts of the group, in particular studying and pictorially rendering the Native American transformation myths, which emphasize the connections among all living things, whether human, other animals, or plants — and including shapeshifting abilities of living creatures.

His work is represented in museum collections throughout the United States, including a sculpture commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City.

Many other museums natonwide also include his work in their collections, including Portland, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and others.

In May, The Rick Bartow Studio was dedicated at the Yakona Nature Preserve at the Oregon Coast.

The opening reception on July 17 will include remarks by Bartow trustee Karen Murphy, Bartow and trust manager Wilder Schmaltz, and also will be attended by trustee Cynthia Jacobi.

Rick Bartow: Self Portrait and Dream

When: July 15 through Aug. 29, 2026

Special events: